Junior forward Mouhamadou Gueye stood at the line, having already made the first of his two free throws to bring the Stony Brook men’s basketball team to within one of the host Wagner Seahawks with four seconds left in overtime on Saturday, Nov. 23.
The second shot bounced off the back of the rim, through the reach of Wagner sophomore guard Tyrone Nesby IV and back into Gueye’s arms as he sunk the jumper with 1.5 seconds on the clock, putting the Seawolves up 85-84. Stony Brook would ultimately win 87-84 to advance to 5-2 on the season after their fifth straight victory, while Wagner fell to 2-4.
“That was one heck of a college basketball game,” head coach Geno Ford said in a press release. “Both teams played at extremely high levels on offense. It’s unfortunate that either team lost because they deserved to win today as well. It is really neat that Mo, who grew up and went to high school on Staten Island, hit the game-winner.”
The Seawolves found themselves down by three points with two minutes remaining in OT when redshirt-junior guard Makale Foreman hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 80. The Seahawks went back up by three when junior guard Alex Morales got the bucket and a foul, completing the three-point play to make it 83-80 with 24 seconds remaining.
Sophomore guard Miles Latimer quickly responded with a long two to cut the deficit to one, and the Seawolves immediately fouled off the ensuing inbound. Wagner junior guard Elijah Ford hit one of two, giving Stony Brook a chance to tie or win. Gueye was fouled after rebounding Latimer’s miss, sending him to the line, where he would decide the game.
Stony Brook dominated the start of the game, scoring the first eight points and shooting the long ball accurately. However, Wagner used their own eight-point run to tie the game up. Once the Seawolves went up six off two straight three-pointers, the Seahawks countered with two threes of their own to even the score at 14. While Stony Brook’s lead grew as large as eight, they had trouble containing Wagner, committing fouls and surrendering threes at a high rate. The Seawolves went scoreless over the final three minutes of the first half but still led 39-36 entering the break.
On the first possession after halftime, Nesby sunk a three to tie the game at 39. Stony Brook continued to shoot well in the second half but could not defend against Wagner, who was able to convert from downtown even when contested. Second-half three-point shooting helped keep the Seahawks in the game as they made 54% from beyond the arc compared to the Seawolves’ 33%.
Wagner took their first lead of the afternoon when Morales hit a jumper with two minutes left in the second half to go up 71-69, prompting Stony Brook to call a timeout as the basket capped off a 6-0 run for the Seahawks. Gueye tied the game at 71 with a dunk but Morales responded to put Wagner back up. Redshirt-junior forward Andrew Garcia was called for a travel on the next possession, but the Seawolves got the ball right back when junior guard Jordan McKenzie secured the steal. Foreman connected on a bank shot to tie the score at 73 and force overtime.
Foreman led all players with a season-high 23 points, while junior forward Elijah Olaniyi contributed 18. Both Garcia and Gueye finished with 12. The Seawolves shot a season-high 50% from the floor and 54% from three, but the Seahawks kept pace with a 43% field goal rate and 54% three-point rate. Gueye came close to a double-double with nine rebounds on the afternoon.
The last time the Seawolves allowed their opponent to score more than 84 points was an 85-76 defeat against the Bucknell Bison on Nov. 26, 2017.
Stony Brook will look to extend their winning streak to six games when they take on the Delaware Blue Hens on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Delaware, with the opening tip scheduled for 7 p.m.
